


Coming Home

by combustiblelemon



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-19
Updated: 2013-03-19
Packaged: 2017-12-05 19:22:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/727019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/combustiblelemon/pseuds/combustiblelemon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Remus comes home from work one day to find Padfoot waiting for him on the stoop.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coming Home

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for the winter wolfstar wank.

Remus didn't know what to expect when he found the enormous black dog lounging on his front stoop. He hadn't seen Padfoot in over a year, not since that night at the Shrieking Shack. He'd wanted to go looking for him, but didn't have any idea where to start. If Dumbledore knew, he wasn't giving him any hints. Remus thought that Sirius might write to him once he'd gotten settled, but…

The dog lifted its head up as Remus got closer to the house, watching as Remus stopped a few feet away from him. They stared at each other for a moment, neither one blinking until Remus realized he was in a staring contest with what looked like a stray dog and his neighbors (both very old, very nosy ladies) were going to think he was crazy. He walked over to the front door, leaning over Padfoot to unlock it to let him in. Padfoot padded into the house without looking at him, settling down on the floor between the couch and the coffee table.

"So were you planning on changing back, or…?" Remus asked, watching him from the doorway.

Nothing. Padfoot just looked at him, his head resting on his front paws. Remus sighed and headed into the kitchen to make dinner. It had been a while since he had to cook for someone other than himself. He crossed his arms and frowned at the contents of his fridge. It wasn't as though he'd never cooked for Sirius before, or he didn't have food, or anything stupid like that. It was just Padfoot! That was the problem, though, wasn't it? Sirius Black wasn't really his Padfoot anymore. He'd been locked up for twelve years and everything was different now. They weren't the foolish young men they had been over a decade ago. Sirius could hate him for believing Peter's trick. Was that why he was refusing to change back? Or did he think that Remus was still angry with him for not telling him about the switch? He'd know which it was if Sirius would stop being so stubborn.

Chicken. He was going to make chicken.

Sirius had refused to change back after dinner and being threatened with a bath, so Remus let it go. He sat on the couch, watching TV with Padfoot sprawled out over his feet. He seemed much happier on a full stomach. At least he was sitting up now, and he didn't seem to mind Remus absently running his fingers through the fur on the top of his head.

"You know, my mum was so furious with me for not doing anything for you. She believed you were innocent until the day she died. She kept saying you couldn't possibly be one of those 'death eating nutters' since you'd never done anything to harm her and she was a Muggle. She knew you loved her."

Padfoot turned around to look at him, but didn't make any move to get Remus' hand off of his head. Remus wasn't looking at him or the TV. He was just staring at the wall, lost in thought. He silently got up and went to get ready for bed. Padfoot didn't follow.

The next few days went about the same. Remus would go through the motions of his day, going to work, coming home, feeding Padfoot, watching TV with him until it was time for bed. Every now and then he would say something stupid and have to leave the room before Padfoot could react. As the moon got closer, more stupid things slipped out. Having Sirius back should have been wonderful, but for whatever reason, he was refusing to change back into a man. He'd told Remus he'd been forgiven in the Shack, but if he'd forgiven him, why wouldn't he talk to him?

The night before the full moon, Remus couldn't get out of bed. He had a feeling that this moon would be a bad one. He was too wound up and confused by the last couple of weeks. Moony would have Padfoot with him, but that wasn't exactly a comforting thought. What if Moony attacked him again? If Padfoot had any sense at all, he'd just spend the night doing whatever it was that he usually did and leave Moony to his own devices. Remus watched as the bedroom door opened a little. Oh, that was right. Padfoot hadn't been fed. Well, Sirius would have to worry about his own dinner tonight. Remus closed his eyes, but didn't have the energy to turn over. "I can't feed you tonight, Padfoot. I can't even get up to feed myself. You're welcome to anything in the kitchen, okay? Just clean up after."

Remus must have dozed off for a moment. There was a cool hand pressed against his forehead and a slight dip in the bed to his left. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Sirius' worried face in front of his.

"I can bring you something. I mean, I'm not sure how good my cooking is anymore, and it was never really that good to begin with, but I can still make soup. Maybe." Sirius was too thin and his hair was stringy and in need of a good wash. Remus smiled, reaching up to wrap his arms around his neck.

"Thank you for changing back. I thought you were mad at me or afraid of me or something."

Sirius looked a little shocked at that, but to his credit, he didn't pull away. He just laughed nervously, returning the embrace before easing Remus back onto the bed.

"Oh, Moony, no. I." He pulled back a little and Remus finally got a good look at him. Sirius wasn't as skinny as he had been in the wanted posters, but Remus could still count all of his ribs, and he was covered in tattoos. "I didn't… want you to see me. You know. Naked. I got tired of wearing those fucking Azkaban robes and I didn't know how to get more clothes, and being Padfoot seemed a lot less complicated than wandering around starkers or begging you for something to wear or breaking into someone's home to steal their clothes."

Remus just looked at him and laughed.


End file.
